Volunteers needed for shoreline restoration at Tomoka State Park
A group of University of Central Florida students are looking for volunteers to help with a shoreline restoration project at Tomoka State Park.
The students plan to create a living shoreline by placing bags of oyster shells and native plants on Saturday morning, working through the coastal and estuarine ecology lab in the university's biology department. The shells and plants placed along the shore near the area where the Tomoka River flows into the Intracoastal Waterway will help prevent erosion and restore a more natural community with plants, fish and crustaceans.
Fishermen and kayak paddlers who visit the park might appreciate the restoration the most, said a group of students who were in the park recently to get the 150 oyster shell bags ready to go.
Living shorelines help defend coastal areas during storms and create habitat for marine creatures and aquatic plants. Those creatures, in turn, help filter the water and improve water quality.
Throughout Mosquito Lagoon in southeastern Volusia County, signs mark areas where UCF Professor Linda Walters and her students and other partners have done other shoreline restorations. Walters and the University have collaborated with The Nature Conservancy, the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, Brevard Zoo and other partners for years on the restorations.
Last month, students from the university’s biology department placed 100 shell bags and 150 plants along a section of shore in Mosquito Lagoon at Seminole Rest in Canaveral National Seashore.
The oyster shells come from the Shuck and Share program, started by the Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach in 2014. Restaurants in four counties along the Indian River Lagoon system save their shells and donate them to be bagged and used to form the basis for new oyster reefs.
Since the program's inception, 440,000 pounds of shells have been recycled, said Jessy Wayles, conservation science coordinator for the Marine Discovery Center. Since last October, the 10 participating restaurants in Volusia County have contributed 40,000 pounds of shells, she said. Shuck and Share also has chapters in Flagler, Orange and Brevard counties.
When the bags of shells are placed along the shoreline, they begin to attract oyster larva.
The UCF students have already conducted surveys along the 200 foot section of shoreline to look at the biodiversity, water quality and salinity. The shoreline has been eroded by storms and boat wakes, said Briana McIntosh of Lantana.
To an already damaged shoreline, a hurricane’s impact is significant, said Carter Cook, a student from Orlando. After two years in a row of hurricanes and high tides, the damage is evident along the shorelines across the region.
"You can see a lot of the tree roots are exposed,” said Cook.
By bringing in the oyster shells, said McIntosh, “it will break up a lot of the wave action.”
And, said Sara McGrory of Cocoa Beach, the shells will help keep the sand in place.
Those areas will then attract plants such as mangroves. Their roots grow down into the sand and provide additional stabilization, said McIntosh.
Volunteers are asked to meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday, near the Chief Tomokie statue in the park. They should wear old and comfortable clothes, closed toe shoes and bring drinking water.
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For more information about Shuck and Share, visit shuckandshare.org .